Unintended pregnancy and its associated factors in Mi'eso Woreda, West Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Unintended pregnancy is a public health problem that can lead to negative health outcomes for both the mother and children, and its prevalence remains a major health problem in Ethiopia. Globally, an estimated 44% of pregnancies and 23% of births are unintended, and the problem is especially high in sub-Saharan Africa, including in Ethiopia.

Design and methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 508 study participants from July 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020. The required sample size was allocated proportionally to the randomly selected subdistricts, and simple random sampling technique was used to select participants. A validated London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP) is used to assess unintended pregnancy. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and finally analyzed using SPSS 21. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were employed to assess factors associated with unintended pregnancy. Finally, a p value of <0.05 was used as a cutoff point for statistical significance.

Results: The prevalence of unintended pregnancy was 34.1%. Out of which, 78.6% were mistimed and 21.4% were unwanted during pregnancy. This study revealed that the rural residence (AOR = 2.95), multi parity (AOR = 3.03, 95%), age at first pregnancy, <20 years (AOR = 4.4), history of abortion (AOR = 5.4), lack of contraception awareness (AOR = 2.45) and no discussion about family planning with husband (AOR = 2.63) were significantly associated with unintended pregnancy.

Conclusions: The prevalence of unintended pregnancies was high, the majority of which were mistimed.Proper postpartum family planning counseling is required to reduce unintended pregnancy.